


Hydrodynamics and the Art of Family

by ArsenicInYourPudding



Category: Young Justice
Genre: F/M, Tumblr Fic Giveaway 2k13, for bemydelphine on tumblr, of all the things i've written for this giveaway i think i'm happiest with this one, so that's something i guess, sorry this is late
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-26
Updated: 2013-08-26
Packaged: 2017-12-24 17:19:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/942535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArsenicInYourPudding/pseuds/ArsenicInYourPudding
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Artemis hits her head, Kaldur walks her home, and Paula Crock is everybody's mom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hydrodynamics and the Art of Family

The Cave was mostly silent, in that post-mission, everyone-is-exhausted-or-home way that usually happened when the team came back after 10. Distantly, Artemis heard M’gann ushering Garfield to bed, and she felt a pang of sadness at his sleepy “Mom?” from waking up on the couch. He’d only been living with them for maybe a month. _Why is everyone we add an orphan_ , she thought. _Except Rocket. ...Shit, I don’t know if Rocket’s got parents or not._

She shouldered her backpack and tucked her bow case and quiver in her locker, resolving to find a subtle way to ask her later. When she could think past the faint ringing in her ears and the bruises starting to form on her back.

_Oh, damnit, I still have a physics test tomorrow. Fuck._

Kaldur, oddly, was waiting by the zeta beams. At 19 years old, he cut an impressive figure, all height and muscle and broad shoulders.

“Are the zeta tubes down still,” she asked as she approached. That was _just_ what she needed.

“No, they are functioning again, according to Red Tornado. I was actually waiting for you.”

“Me? What’s up?”

He smiled, one that spoke volumes of fond displeasure, of a grievance too oft repeated to be truly angry about it, and lifted her backpack from her shoulder. “ _You_ did not report to the infirmary.”

“Didn’t need to,” she said firmly.

“As a leader, it is my job to notice when something is not right with my team. Your stance during debrief tonight told me all I needed to know.”

She arched an eyebrow. “So I took a header into a brick wall and I’m starting to feel it now. Doesn’t mean I need medical attention. And it doesn’t explain why you took my backpack.”

“I would feel better knowing you made it home safely,” he said innocently. “As I don’t know the extent of your injuries, I feel it only safe to be cautious.”

“So you’re walking me home now?” Artemis felt a tired smile tug at her mouth. “Alright, fine, but no sleepovers. I have a physics test tomorrow that I haven’t studied nearly enough for, and if I fail, my mom’s pulling the plug on Green Arrow Protege Number Three.”

Kaldur smiled and gestured to the zeta tube. “After you.”

She stepped into the recognition zone, feeling strangely forgetful without the weight of her backpack and heard _Recognized: Artemis, B07_ before the shower of golden light enveloped her and resolved itself in a dark phone booth. As she stepped outside, the faint, tinny _Recognized: Aqualad, B02_ followed her out into the night.

“Shall we?”

“You wanna give me my backpack? I’m injured, not crippled.”

He blithely ignored her, both straps on his shoulders. “What is your test on tomorrow,” he asked instead.

“Oh sure, pretend I didn’t say anything. _Real_ mature.” Artemis sighed. She was far too tired to stay irritated with him. “Hydrodynamics. Probably something you know a ton about, huh?”

“Oddly, not as much as I would like.” He frowned contemplatively as they walked, illuminated by the jaundiced glow of the streetlights. “My queen once told me that a fish doesn’t question how it swims, it only knows it must. And truly, it is the same for Atlanteans, mostly - we have only begun to try to understand the waters we call home in the last several centuries.”

“That’s fair, we’ve only started trying to understand physics as a whole in the last couple hundred years ourselves.” She pointed to a slightly unsteady-looking apartment building just coming into view down the street. “Look, there’s my building, you can head back. I’ve got it from here, thanks for walking me home.”

Kaldur didn’t relinquish her backpack. “I have not seen your mother in quite some time, I’d like to say hello, if I could.”

Artemis groaned. She’d made the mistake of inviting the team to congregate at her apartment before going to watch the New Year’s Eve festivities in Gotham last year, and now she couldn’t go two weeks without someone from the cave over for dinner or breakfast or a Jeopardy marathon. (Although, Zatanna was always fun to watch game shows with, and if Connor wanted to come by and fix the sink, she wasn’t going to stop him.) “I see, this concern for my welfare is just a ploy to have a reason to go see my mom. _I_ see how it is.”

He laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing gently. She snuggled into the hug and reached up for his hand to keep him there. “Your mother is a very wise, very caring woman, and she is a joy to talk to.” He sighed, a touch wistful. “You are very lucky, indeed.”

Maybe it was the minor concussion, but suddenly she couldn’t help asking, “What about your mom? Where’s she?”

For a second, she thought he might brush the question off, inform her that it was none of her business (which it wasn’t), or that he didn’t want to talk about it (which he didn’t have to). But he rubbed her shoulder with his thumb and said quietly, “I don’t know. I have not seen her since I was very young. Since before I began my studies in Posedonis, even.”

“There’s no way to, like, I don’t know, find her? Hire a private detective? Do they even have private detectives in Atlantis?”

Despite himself, Kaldur chuckled. “I don’t believe so. And I have long ago resigned myself to the knowledge that we may never be reunited. I have a few fond memories of her, fuzzy though they may be.”

Artemis frowned. “Still. You don’t have _anybody_?” Sure, her family was the poster family for Child Protective Services intervention, but at least she had _people_ , twisted though they may be.

He released her so she could unlock the building door. “I have...people,” he said slowly. “I have the team, and my king and queen, and--”

“Dude, literally none of that is the same. My dad’s a piece of shit and I hate him, but... There’s just a special relationship with parents. You’ve _never_ had someone get pissed at you because you were out late without calling, or meet you at the door when you come back from one of those ‘every news station in the world is covering this’ missions and cry all over you because oh my god you didn’t die? You’ve never had that?”

Kaldur shook his head. “I have never needed it.”

“Bullshit, everyone needs that.” Artemis stepped into the elevator that hadn’t seen a proper inspection since the early nineties. Usually she took the stairs, the universally safer option, but her whole back was hurting and the idea of hiking up five flights of stairs made her want to cry.

Kaldur hit the button for the fifth floor and watched her lean against the wall. “Are you alright?”

“Sore as fuck and my head hurts.” She grinned tiredly at him. “I’ll live. Thanks for walking me home. I swear, you’re twice the gentleman Wally’s ever been.”

“He will grow up eventually.”

Artemis snorted. “Him? Never. ...He’s got a new girlfriend now. Linda Something.” He better treat her better than me, or I’ll break his neck.

Kaldur chuckled. “I do not doubt that you will.”

The elevator doors slid open with the rusty scrape of metal on metal. Kaldur followed Artemis out into a grimy, threadbare hallway. She flipped through her keys before sliding one into the lock on her door.

“Mom? I’m home,” she called, letting Kaldur in before locking the door behind them.

The distinctive squeak of wheels on linoleum preceded Paula Crock out into the living room. “You’re late,” she noted with resigned displeasure. She noticed Kaldur standing behind her daughter and brightened visibly. “Kaldur, what a pleasant surprise!”

He smiled. “I wanted to be sure Artemis made it home safely tonight. She may have a slight concussion - you might want to keep an eye on her for the next several days to be sure.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Paula said with a small, concerned frown at her daughter. “Could I persuade you to share a cup of tea with me tonight? It’s been so long since we last had time to talk.”

Kaldur glanced at Artemis, who shrugged. “Sure, stay. If anything, you can help my mom if I pass out in the shower.”

“Artemis!”

She chuckled, leaning down to kiss her mother’s cheek. “Chill out, Mom, I’m kidding.” As she walked back to her room to dump her backpack and grab her pajamas and a towel, she heard her mother wheel into the kitchen and set about making a pot of tea, briskly denying Kaldur’s attempts to help. Artemis smiled and dug out her cell phone.

In the kitchen, Kaldur’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He waited unti Paula’s back was turned to him to unlock it and read the text message.

_You don’t need an excuse to come over, you know. You’re practically family, anyway._


End file.
